Mortars are short range, muzzle loading, drop fired guns which fire various exploding and chemical warheads. Mortars are sometimes used in clandestine and other operations in which the noise of firing, and the heavy weight of the steel launch tube restrict the use of the weapon. The noise of firing at short ranges reveals the position of the firing site, inviting counterattack. While mortars are typically light weight for their bore size, the weight of the launch tube limits those operations in which the weapons have to be manually carried into action.
The need for silent, lightweight mortars for clandestine, and other military missions has long existed. Those mortar systems that do exist are specialized and not widely applicable to a broad range of military operations. There are no systems that exist where silent ammunition can be fired from standard weapons.